(LIVE BLOG) WINTER FEASTS OF LIGHT 2023-2024: MEETING OF OUR LORD (CANDLEMAS)

February 2 is the final day in the cycle of Winter Feasts of Light, the Presentation or the Meeting of Jesus Christ in the Temple, or Candlemas, commemorated forty days after Christmas. In Eastern tradition, it is often called The Meeting of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, because the hymns emphasize the incarnate God, the Lord Jesus Christ, meeting with his people, Israel, in the persons of the Prophet Simeon and the Prophetess Anna. In the Gospel of Luke 2:22-35, Mary and Joseph took the infant Christ to the Temple in Jerusalem. He was received in the arms of the elder Simeon, who then prayed, "Now let Thy servant depart in peace... for I have seen Thy salvation." This was one of the things that Mary "pondered in her heart"—the fact that others recognized that her Son was the Messiah (more on Orthodox Wiki).

THEOPHANY (TA PHOTA)

Jan. 6, 2024 

On Jan. 6 we celebrate the third Feast of Light, Theophany in the Orthodox world, "because at the baptism of Christ the Holy Trinity appeared clearly to mankind for the first time—the Father's voice is heard from Heaven, the Son of God is incarnate and standing physically in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove.

Jan. 6, 2020 St. Markella: Theophany and Blessing of the Waters.

In mystic commemoration of this event, the Great Blessing of Water is performed on this day. A priest tosses a wooden cross into the water. Boys and young men dive in to retrieve the cross. The winner holds the holy prize high, kisses it and is blessed by the priest.

Whoever finds the cross will have blessings for the entire year. The holy water is used by a local priest to bless the homes of the faithful.  (More on Orthodox Wiki). 

In the West this day is celebrated as Epiphany, commemorating the Adoration of the Magi to the child Jesus.

External reading
Greek City Times: January 5th, Eve of the Theophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

By now you probably got it's a big deal. 

Jan. 5, 2024 Jonathan Pageau: What It Means to Be Born Again.

o~o~o

November 21 marks the beginning of the season of the four Winter Festivals of Light with the Orthodox Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. The day is known in Western Christianity as the Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the Temple. The second festival on the calendar is the Nativity which is marked on Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas Day on the 25. Christmas itself consists of twelve days (video on the real meaning) more about which later on. It comprises the Circumcision of our Lord which is commemorated on January 1 and the third festival of Theophany (Western Epiphany) on January 6. The fourth and final festival is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ at the Temple on February 2. This day is also known as Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter.

March 31, 2022 Jonathan Pageau - Universal History: The Christian Continuation of Hanukkah, with Richard Rohlin.

Jan. 1, 2024 

NAMING & CIRCUMCISION OF THE LORD

The Church observes the feast of The Circumcision of our Lord, on the eighth day of Christmas, on January 1. In submitting to the Law of Circumcision, Our Lord signifies that He is the fullness and the completion of the Old Covenant.

The Church Fathers explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled.

The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that he had truly assumed human flesh, and that his Incarnation was not merely an illusion. (More on the Orthodox Wiki)

Dec. 31, 2023

JANUS, THE GOD IN BETWEEN

Dec. 30, 2023 Jonathan Pageau: Janus, the Two-Faced God of January.

External reading
The National Pulse: December 31st: St. Sylvester, ‘Santa’, and an Excuse to Ditch the Housework.

Dec. 27, 2023

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Dec. 27, 2023 Theoria: The real meaning of the 12 days of Christmas.

Dec. 21, 2023 Nicodimos Kabarnos: Phos Ilaron (Christmas edition) - (Live in Nicosia Cyprus). YT Channel. 

Phos Hilaron (Koinē Greek: Φῶς Ἱλαρόν, romanized: Fόs Ilarόn) is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in Koine Greek. Often referred to in the Western Church by its Latin title Lumen Hilare, it has been translated into English as O Gladsome Light. It is one of some of the earliest known Christian hymns recorded outside of the Bible that is still in use today.

The hymn is part of vespers in the Byzantine Rite and the Catholic Church, and also included in some Anglican and Lutheran liturgies. The hymn was first recorded by an unknown author in the Apostolic Constitutions, which was written in the late 3rd or early 4th century (Wiki). 

Simon Khorolskiy: O Come, Emmanuel. YT Channel. 

"O come, O come, Emmanuel" (Latin: "Veni, veni, Emmanuel") is a Christian hymn for Advent, which is also often published in books of Christmas carols. The text was originally written in Latin. It is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons attached to the Magnificat at Vespers over the final days before Christmas. The hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago in monastic life in the 8th or 9th century (Wiki). 

--------

In this episode of the Universal History podcast, Richard Rohlin and Jonathan Pageau discuss Christmas, why it looks the way it does, how Christmas developed into what we have today, and why you absolutely should celebrate it if you’re a Christian.

If you are interested in the Beowulf Course you can buy the Beowulf Course on the site of the Symbolic World. You have to have a profile or create one for free. Or join the Symbolic World Summit in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Date: Feb 29-Mar 2, 2024 Tickets start at $399.

Dec. 15,2023 Jonathan Pageau: The Universal History of Christmas - with Richard Rohlin.

Dec. 7, 2023

A WORD ON TOYS

In the season of giving, a word on toys and children.

Dec. 1, 2023 Orthodox Wisdom: On Toys & Children - An Orthodox Analysis by Monk Hilarion.

Dec. 6, 2023

ST. NICOLAOS, THE WONDERWORKER

Although St. Nikolaos Day on December 6 is not officially part of the Winter Feasts of Light, it is an important day on the Orthodox calendar. Furthermore, the Archbishop of Myra of the early fourth century has become a secular, cultural hero in many parts of the Western world. Read all about the saint on the Orthodox Wiki.

Saint Nicholas, also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.

The little church of Agios Nikolaos on board a historical battleship protecting Greece https://t.co/dLDPSUcl0u pic.twitter.com/n1CrINqieo

— Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) December 9, 2023

In some cases St. Nic was coupled to a pagan demon, that had become his helper, called the Krampus (link). How deep into the past the origin of the figure goes, is illustrated by a similar character, the Persian new year's spirit of Hajji Piruz, a remnant of the Zoroastrian Keeper of the Fire. 

In the Low Countries this demonic figure morphed into a Moorish sprite called Black Piet around the time of the 18th century. Reason for a UN anti racist cultural committee to demand this 'black face' be replaced by multicolored Piets.

It flies in the face of the actual roots of the St. Nicolas feasts, as well as the fact that culture grows from historical grassroots up, not from a globalist agenda down.

Here's an archive in Dutch on the ongoing culture war in the Netherlands against Black Pete, but also containing some interesting English language footage and video evidence (link). 

1 March 2023 Jonathan Pageau: What I Mean When I Say Santa Claus Is Real.

Nov. 22, 2023

ENTRANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS

Today marks the sacred feast of the Orthodox Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. The day is known in Western Christianity as the Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the Temple. Watch the Orthros and Divine Liturgy this morning at the Church of The Ascension of the Lord in Athens, Greece. 

Nov. 21, 2024 Kabarnos: Orthros and Divine Liturgy - The Entrance of the Theotokos. 

- More on Christianity -